My name is Karen Elizabeth Rojas Torres, I was born in Iquitos, the capital of the Peruvian Amazon, I grew up in a Christian home where my parents taught me about Jesus since I was very young.

When I was little I liked to go to the EBDV – Escuela Bíblica de Vacaciones (Holiday Bible Classes) where they taught us about Jesus and God’s love for us, the sacrifice God made in sending his Son to die for us to save us from eternal death.

As a teenager, I attended camping in Colinas de Sion, a place about 4 hours from the city where I spent an awesome week meeting many people, making many friends, and of course learning about Jesus.

I remember I accepted Jesus as my Savior in a camp and I decided to continue in His ways fulfilling the purpose that He has for my life. A year later, my father passed away and the time after his death was difficult for us (my mother, my sister and I) however, at every step and every day we could see the benevolence and mercy of God towards us because we never lacked food and we have made an effort to continue the path of faith.

Months later I entered university where I had to make an effort to get good marks and get a half scholarship that would allow me to pay for tuition. Then, some years later, I had the opportunity to obtain a scholarship from the Peruvian government to study a master’s degree at the Polytechnic University of Valencia in Spain.

Throughout the past, until today, I can see His grace and His love in my life and in difficult times like now as we are experiencing the Covid-19 pandemic. God continues to hold me in His arms and is the One who gives us the strength we need in the midst of so much chaos, disease, death, and desolation that our city is experiencing – this region is one of the worst affected areas in Peru.

I know that God is in control of everything that is happening and I can take refuge in His promise mentioned in Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future”